O’Halloran coy on birthday candles

QBE Insurance chief executive
Frank O’Halloran
celebrated a major birthday on Friday – and probably wanted to keep the matter a secret, given it will affect his insurance premiums now.

Shame then, that at the Sydney Swans chairman’s lunch on Sunday, club boss and former ING Management chairman
Richard Colless
didn’t pass up the opportunity to let people know.

Colless, who referred to club sponsor O’Halloran as the best insurance chief in the “galaxy", suggested the QBE boss was less keen to talk about his new age. So he directed sponsors and those in the coterie in the Steve Waugh room at the Sydney Cricket Ground to do the birthday sums and add the jumper numbers of Swans players Ted Richards (25) and Nick Smith (40).

In his pre-game address before the Swans and Hawthorn battle, Colless, a known stirrer, referred to AFL chief
Andrew Demetriou
– who has just pulled off a record $1.2 billion broadcast rights deal for the code – as the “shrinking violet" of the game.

Veteran company director
Dick Warburton
, who sits on the board of Swans sponsor Citigroup, also came in for some Colless attention. “Sir Dick", was congratulated on his recent promotion to Lieutenant on the Queen’s Royal Victorian Order list. He then hit Warburton, who was with his wife, with a backhanded compliment: “Behind every successful man, there is a surprised woman."

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Fortescue Metals Group chairman and former champion middle distance runner
Herb Elliott
, who is famous for never losing a race of the mile or 1500 metres, was also guest speaker. Elliott reluctantly confessed, that he did lose once – as a 14-year-old student against a 17-year old. Ex-Mirvac Group boss and Swans director
Greg Paramor
was also at the lunch. For the record, the Swans lost by 46 points on Sunday – a margin that was only slightly less than the figure O’Halloran turned last Friday.